Doubletake Studios

What?

Doubletake Studios is basically a photograph studio where normal girls, and potentially boys too, can go and spend the day getting pampered by professionals, who do their hair and make up for them, before taking professional photos of the outcome. The best thing about these studios is that everything is free; the experience, the hair styling, the makeover, even refreshments are included in the day. The only thing which costs money are the photos at the end, which there is no obligation to buy.

Where?

There are studios located all around England, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Southampton.

My Visit

My friend received a phone call informing her that she had been recommended by another friend for a free photo shoot. They said she was allowed to bring along friend: me. When she tod me about the shoot I was sceptical; whilst I like make up and photography, I don’t reckon myself much of a model, plus things don’t generally come for free in this world, there’s usually a hidden price somewhere along the line. However, she was insistent that the shoot was legitimate, and she really wanted to go so I agreed (after hefty googling of the company which only told me the photos were priced extortionately). So off we went to the London Farringdon studio, me still cautious and determined not to purchase the photos. When we got there everything seemed above board; the staff were friendly and welcoming, taking our coats and offering refreshments immediately. Not soon after we were taken for our hair and make up. I have short hair and sometimes get bored of having it in a straight bob, so I enquired about what other styles could be done. The make up artist told me she could do it tousled as my hair was too short to be curly. She asked me what colour eyes I would like, blacks or more natural browns, to which I chose brown. During my makeover the girl made me feel slightly uncomfortable as she was chatting and laughing constantly to some of the other make-up artists, I felt almost as if I was intruding in their private conversation. The only thing she said to me was that she did make up for some celebrities, but never specified who. After my 30 minutes of being primed, quite excitedly I looked in the mirror, only to find, yes, my hair is after all too short to be “tousled”, something that a make-up artist to the stars should have known. Also, she had done me black eyes too, not brown as I had requested.

The photo shoot was a little better than the make over. The photographer was a nice enough guy; he was chatty and kept telling me my poses were good. The sets in the studio were a bit used though, and the studio was crowded.

Results

After waiting around an hour the photos were ready to be viewed. There were a few nice photos out of them all, but nothing really special. I did like the art they could do which transformed the photo, and I would have been interested to see what I would have looked like after airbrushing, but this could only be done if buying the photos.

Verdict

I resisted the sales woman and didn’t buy any of the photos. They started at £300 which was a little out of my budget, and besides, my hair looked horrific. I have to say they did do a nice make over for my friend; her hair looked pretty and the green eyeshadow the make-up artist chose for her really suited her. She did purchase some of her photographs; the sales woman kept dropping the price until she reached £100 for three which included no airbrushing. They set her up a scheme so she could pay £20 a month until it was paid off. And she had to give a lot, maybe 30, of her other friends numbers away so she could get thi

s deal. Overall, it was a good day out for me and my friend, I wouldn’t necessarily do it again unless I really wanted some photos of myself and there was no other means of getting them. The studios do make money out of the photographs, so anyone planning a visit here should bare that in mind.

*Photos taken from my Blackberry in the bathroom.